California Pizza Kitchen, known within the food industry as CPK, is a casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California. The chain is widely known for its innovative and non traditional pizzas, such as the "Original BBQ Chicken Pizza", BLT, Thai Chicken, and Jamaican Jerk Chicken pizzas. They also serve various kinds of pasta, salads, soups, sandwiches and desserts. They have an extensive children's menu for children ages 10 and under which includes a variety of different pizzas, pastas, salad, and chicken.

The chain has over 230 locations in 32 US states and eleven other countries, including 26 California Pizza Kitchen ASAP kiosks designed to serve passengers at airports and shopping malls. The company licensed its name to Kraft Foods to distribute a line of premium frozen pizzas, in 2000.; Nestlé purchased Kraft's pizza lines in 2010.

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Tuscan Hummus

This twist on the traditional middle eastern appetizer is a copycat restaurant recipe inspired by the Tuscan Hummus dish served at California Pizza Kitchen. Traditional hummus is made with garbanzo beans but the difference here is that white Italian cannellini beans are used. Read on to find out how to make this dish at home.

Ingredients

15 1/2 ounces cannellini beans

1 garlic clove

3 Tbsp tahini

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a blender.

Puree until the mixture is transformed into a smooth paste.

If the consistency is too thick add more water.

While a lot of people love hummus, there are obviously different preference for the ratio of ingredients used. Taste the hummus and feel free to add more tahini, lemon juice or spices according to how you like it.
Garnish with fresh chopped basil and tomatoes.
Serve with warm toasted pita bread cut into wedges.